I've been playing non-consistently for about 2/3 years and I got stuck at a point where I don't know how to improve. Chords aren't much of a problem but I don't know how to get started on scales and riffs.

How much should I practice daily and WHAT should I practice to get my fingers started for fast stuff (not metal, I hate metal)?

Practice as much as you want to and are able to. Bear in mind that "practice" isn't the same as "play". When you practice, you focus on learning. If you want to get better at writing riffs, take a riff that you like and look at how it's constructed. Try to figure out what elements you like and want to take away from it. Is it the rhythm? The intervals? The chord progression? Formulate what makes a riff work in context.

When learning to play fast, you practice slowly, regardless of genre. Play the passage slowly and focus on your technique. Make your hand motions as small as possible and make sure that your movements are deliberate and relaxed. Tension gives the illusion of speed, but it is uncontrolled; speed is best as an extension of control over the instrument rather than by tense accident.

The stuff I consider hard might be really easy for most of you. Idk, Snow hey oh is a real pain for me.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Geldin

Practice as much as you want to and are able to. Bear in mind that "practice" isn't the same as "play". When you practice, you focus on learning. If you want to get better at writing riffs, take a riff that you like and look at how it's constructed. Try to figure out what elements you like and want to take away from it. Is it the rhythm? The intervals? The chord progression? Formulate what makes a riff work in context.

When learning to play fast, you practice slowly, regardless of genre. Play the passage slowly and focus on your technique. Make your hand motions as small as possible and make sure that your movements are deliberate and relaxed. Tension gives the illusion of speed, but it is uncontrolled; speed is best as an extension of control over the instrument rather than by tense accident.

Take "snow" and really slow it down, until you can play it flawlessly without effort. Keep playing at that speed for a while. Every few days, or maybe once a week, up the tempo a bit, be patient, playing it sloppy and fast just sounds horrible. Use alternate picking, hammer ons and pull offs where needed, and if you dont know how to do those things then you need to learn those techniques. Hope I helped!

__________________"Any statement beginning with the words 'In truth' is almost always a lie."

Well i'd advise finding a song that you like with a consisting riff and practice it entirely but perfectly at slow speed. Then speed the process up (a metronome would help). After that move to another song and you will find that you already discover the basic elements of riffs. You can't start away by creating ones, try alternating some riffs: take off some parts, induce some others. It's really fun but sometimes could be hard . Good luck

I like Snow as an alternate picking exercise. (Alternate picking is when you alternate between down and up strokes.) It isn't THAT fast, but its far from trivial for someone who has played less than a year.

Have you learned the standard rock licks? Walk This Way? Purple Haze? Stairway to Heaven (and a bunch of other Zeppelin)? Hot for Teacher? Back in Black? Walk This Way is a pretty good song to learn. There's a lot of riffing going on, and the solos aren't so bad as far as solos go.

(Note that Hot for Teacher is quite a bit harder than the others -- and I just mean the intro. That's definitely not the riff to use to teach you how to tap. Nonetheless, it could be a goal once you gain some technique.)

Learning from songs is fine. Learn the songs you like; you'll then have the technical proficiency necessary to play that type of music. What's the fastest, hardest-sounding song you like? Strive to learn it.